Sckipio gives G.fast a workout at CES

Semiconductor startup Sckipio Technologies is using the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week to demonstrate the capabilities of G.fast – and, by extension, its G.fast chips (see "G.fast chipsets from Sckipio Technologies debut"). The demonstrations include compatibility with software-defined networking (SDN), reverse powering of G.fast distribution point units (DPUs), and transmission of 4K video.

In the SDN demo, Sckipio is showing the use of OpenFlow to control a DPU. The demonstration includes a DPU containing a 16-port fully vectored Sckipio DP3000-EVM G.fast Distribution Point Unit device transmitting over a 50-m twisted-pair binder to 16 Sckipio CP1000-EVM units, which represent CPE. The connection between the DPU and CPE is controlled via an SDN controller based on an RYU SDN framework. The controller maps VLAN-tagged traffic between the network and user sides of the DPU.

Meanwhile, reverse powering of the G.fast DPU is one of the approach's major selling points. Sckipio has partnered with Microsemi Corp. (NASDAQ: MSCC) on what it asserts is the first public demonstration of reverse power feeding on actual G.fast equipment. The demonstration features Microsemi’s RPF PSE chip PD81001-based injector providing DC power into Sckipio's CP1000-EVM G.fast CPE, which then transmits it to an eight-port power extraction and aggregation module based on a Microsemi PD70201 RPF PD chip in the DPU. The PD70201 converts the equally shared power into 12 V for use by a Sckipio DP3000-EVM G.fast Distribution Point device.

Finally, Sckipio has constructed a demonstration to illustrate that G.fast has the horsepower to support ultra-high-definition TV services such as 4K video. The setup leverages a DPU reference design with Sckipio’s DP3000-EVM, which transmits a 50-m binder over 16 Sckipio CP1000-EVM CPE reference design bridges. The DPU reference design connects to a "media center" with 4K content that is streamed to a CPE connected to a 4K set-top box and TV. Each 4K video stream in the demonstration runs over the G.fast line and consumes around 65 Mbps, Sckipio says.

With companies such as Sckipio and Broadcom (see "Broadcom debuts end-to-end G.fast offering") providing the necessary chips, G.fast hardware should become available in the first half of this year. G.fast offers the promise of gigabit speeds over twisted-pair copper cabling (see "G.fast standard ratified by ITU").

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